UMNO Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin may have though he was doing Prime Minister Najib Razak a favour by leaping to the PM's defence, but instead, he seems to have attracted an even bigger hornets' nest for the Malaysian first family.
Najib, wife Rosmah, entire family and their entourage are in Kazakhstan for the dual purpose of an official visit as well as to attend their daughter's engagement to the son of a Kazakh tycoon and government official.
The couple are under fire for once again abusing public funds for their personal matters. Their "cheapskate" behaviour at the expense of a populace already burdened by innumberable price hikes has become the talk of town and the hottest debate for the day on the local Twitter trail.
"Khairy is himself in Kazakhstan, so who is to talk about despicable lies. The more appropriate saying here should be, those who eat chilli will feel the heat," PAS MP for Kuala Selangor Dzulkefly Ahmad told Malaysia Chronicle.
"I have already tweeted this out, did he read what I actually said before he jumped in and accused me of despicable lies? Where is the lie? He hasn't dared to answer me yet."
So defensive
Khairy, who is the Rembau MP, had denied accusations that Najib and Rosmah were abusing their power or "immorally" using public funds to fly themselves and an extended guests list to their 22-year old daughter, Nooryana's engagement party.
Khairy said on his Twitter site that Najib was in Kazakhstan to attend the 7th World Islamic Economic Forum and to return Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev's visit to Malaysia when Abdullah Badawi was still the prime minister. Badawi is Khairy's father-in-law.
Apart from that, Khairy has been in the news of late. US cables released by WikiLeaks implied that Badawi had tried to use the murder trial of Monglolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu to suppress Najib, who was then the deputy premier. It is known in UMNO circles that Badawi was forced by his predecessor, Mahathir Mohamad, to accept Najib as his successor. In the cables was also information that Khairy might have been involved in leaking a military report detailing Najib's alleged involvement to the public.
“PM’s Kazakh trip planned long before daughter’s engagement. In fact return visit for President Nazarbayev’s Msia trip DURING Pak Lah’s time,” Khairy posted this morning on Twitter.
“How long do you think it takes to organise a major international forum like #WIEF? You think this was done for that?”
Protecting Najib and Rosmah
His tweet immediately drew a hailstorm of responses condemning him for trying to be a' goody two-shoes' and 'protecting' Najib and Rosmah.
"Why is he so defensive he must mention what happened during Pak Lah's time. Pak Lah's time was when the Kazakh president came to Malaysia. What we are asking is why is Najib returning the visit now. And don't waste time on WIEF. No one is questioning how long it takes to prepare the seminar," MP for Gopeng Lee Boon Chye toldMalaysia Chronicle.
"What the whole country is questioning is, don't cloud the issue. Is Najib abusing his power and using public money for his personal matters? Malaysians have the right to demand an explanation. The PM's office should detail the expenses and release a statement. That is how you account to the people and not by giving flimsy denials through the Youth chief on Twitterjaya."
This is not the first time that Najib and Rosmah have been accused of abusing taxpayers' wealth for their personal trips. In May, they attended Nooryana's graduation from Georgetown University. Coincidentally, the first couple were in the US for another official visit.
"Najib's daughter can get engaged whenever she wants. Najib and Rosmah can attend the engagement, take as many days leave as they wish or invite as many guests as they like. But don't use the people's money for this. Do you think Najib and Rosmah are poor? I stand by what I said, by using the people's money, he has no class," said Dzulkefly.
In Kazakhstan, Najib calls for transparency and honesty
Meanwhile, in Kazakhstan, Najib told Islamic leaders that openness, honesty and transparency were vital if the people were to have faith that their government is working for them and not for itself.
The 58-year scandal-plagued Malaysian leader said that these guiding principles would also show that leaders and politicians were striving to lift the whole economy and not to "line their own pockets".
"As political leaders and as statesmen, it is up to us to show the resolve, dedication, commitment and political will required to do what is right, to right what is wrong and to prevent corruption from becoming a norm in our societies,"Star reported Najib as saying in his speech to the WIEF.
"We should be prepared to walk the talk and practise what we preach. And government should have no fear of criticism from the people that they serve."
- Malaysia Chronicle
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